Home at Last!

First off I have to thank all those that have been checking and commenting on the blog, calling, and stopping by over these past four/five LONG days! It has definitely helped keep my spirits up and prevent me from going crazy! It's nice to know how supported we are, so thanks again- it has REALLY been appreciated.

The short of it:
Everything with the procedure went very well. As of right now the doctors orders are to stay in bed for everything except those things that others cannot possibly do for me. (i.e. going to the bathroom & showering.) It is SO SO nice to be home and out of the hospital! I feel a new sense of freedom not having to unhook monitors and wheel an IV around in order to get up to go to the bathroom! I slept much better last night than I have the past four nights because I was in my own bed right next to my cute husband instead of having him in a make-shift bed a few feet away. I'm glad he can pretty much sleep anywhere :-)

Sometime soon I'll probably have to travel down to Ogden again to get another ultrasound to see if things are getting worse or not. If things are stable or even on the slight chance they have improved, then I just may be put on modified bed-rest and there's a chance I could teach again if I make sure to take it easy. That would be the best-case scenario. Worst would be I still deliver the babies early. And more on the same end of the spectrum as delivering too early would be bed-rest for the remaining 16 weeks. That is such a long time! But I'm coming to terms with it more and more and really disciplining myself to not get up or strain in anyway. It's tough. But I keep hearing it's worth it, so I think I'd be ok if that's what it comes to. ;-)

Keegan has worked it out with his boss to work at home as much as possible in order to take care of me so I'm grateful for his willingness to do that. He's pretty sweet and has taken it all in really well. It will be a huge adjustment... but we'll be ok. Again it's nice to know we're so supported from friends and family!!


The long of it: (In addition to the short of it for those who are interested :-)
I think the most frustrating day was Monday... we waited about EIGHT hours for a five minute visit from the doctor to be released. Thankfully that was also the day when I had lots of phone calls and visitors. In all honesty I think Keegan had a more difficult time with it. He is extremely patient and there are few times I've seen him on edge, but this was one of those times. Part of the frustration was that I really didn't need to be there on Monday at all. I had been asymptomatic for a couple of days, but hey- if the doctors get paid more from the insurance company and no extra charge is given to the patient... why not waste the patients time? I have to agree with him on that. The health care system is definitely flawed in our nation and it was interesting to be on the other side of it for the first time in my life.

In several of my college courses we would learn about the health care system in our country and others and compare/contrast... I learned then that despite what I had previously believed, America the beautiful is much more beautiful OUTSIDE of a hospital for many reasons. It was an experience for me thats for sure! :-) Don't get me wrong- I am EXTREMELY grateful for modern medicine and technologies that prevent tragedies like ours could have been, and for the most part I received great care. I loved nurses Laura, Karen, and Julie. They were sweet, fun, caring, and good at what they did. One nurse that never told me her name was TERRIBLE and b/c of her neglect caused me a lot of pain. The rest did their job fairly well and that is all I really needed/expected. There were times when I felt very neglected, others when I felt like I could push a little button and within seconds have a nurse at my side to do whatever I told them, and most of the time it was somewhere in-between. I'm glad to have such great insurance, but its sad to see how much that was taken advantage of.

Funny but not side-note:
Right after my surgery, a nurse wheeled me back into my room. Keegan had gone to give a woman a blessing so I was lying there just thinking and all of a sudden I heard scream after awful scream! My first thought was "What in the world!?" Then I remembered I was in the "Labor & Delivery" part of the hospital. A nurse came in for a bit and I asked her if they were labor screams. She replied in the affirmative and apologized for the noise. I admit I laughed for a bit to myself... and then felt bad because as of yet that is one thing I haven't experienced and I may be the one doing the screaming someday!

After we finally got home we pretty much went strait to bed. I know I've said it before... but it was SO nice to be back home!! Today went fairly well and I had many other people stop by, call, e-mail, etc. It's nice to have family close by and friends that know how to make me laugh by bringing me balloons and sacrificing one for a helium song, and cook really good meals. (Those of you that have stayed in a hospital for awhile... have you noticed how all of the food smells the same?? Weird!)

Day 1 is about over and it really hasn't been too bad. There's a substitute who is certified in Health Ed covering my classes who has six kids of her own that will be very able to handle the reproductive unit coming up. :-) It's nice that end is being covered and I don't have to worry too much about it. Here's hoping the rest of my days on bed-rest go as well!!